UNICEF says Gaza fighting pauses agreed to finish polio vaccinations

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -Humanitarian pauses in the war in the Gaza Strip have been agreed to allow a second round of polio vaccinations targeting 590,000 children under the age of 10 to start on Oct. 14, the head of the U.N. children's agency UNICEF said on Thursday.

"Area-specific humanitarian pauses have been agreed. It is critical that these pauses are respected by all parties. Without them, it is impossible to vaccinate the children," UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement.

The first round of the polio vaccination campaign, which began on Sept. 1, reached its target of 90% of children under 10 years of age, the United Nations has said. It was carried out in phases over two weeks during humanitarian pauses in the fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed in August that a baby was partially paralysed by the type 2 polio virus, the first such case in the territory in 25 years.

"UNICEF will include Vitamin A supplements to strengthen children's immune systems. Children in Gaza live in extremely dire hygiene and sanitation conditions," Russell said.

"With the additional vaccine equipment and cold boxes that arrived yesterday, UNICEF is ready to deliver and vaccinate children to stop the transmission of polio," she said. "The success of the first round shows that when agreements are respected, we can get the job done."

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols, editing by David Ljunggren and Diane Craft)

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